Networks Exploring ‘ER’ Possibilities, Fox Chief Says

The loss of “Seinfeld” will have an “enormous impact” on prime time, and competing networks will likely add to NBC’s woes by exploring how to steal its top-rated drama “ER,” the Fox network’s programming chief said Friday.

Addressing a group of TV critics in Pasadena, Fox Entertainment Group President Peter Roth avoided specifics regarding “ER”--which will be in play for next season if NBC can’t come to a deal with production company Warner Bros. Television--but did say, “I can’t imagine that every network isn’t looking at the possibilities that series would afford.”

Fox, in fact, is viewed as a potential wild card in any “ER” bidding war, given the preemptive $1.58 billion the network agreed to pay to wrest NFL football rights away from CBS four years ago.

Under one widely rumored scenario, were Fox to acquire “ER,” the network would schedule the medical drama Sundays after its highest-rated series, “The X-Files,” not only creating a formidable programming block but also expanding into the 10 p.m. hour without disrupting the local news most Fox stations air Monday through Friday.

Roth also assured reporters that “X-Files” would continue on Fox’s schedule “minimally” for two more seasons after the current one or through a seventh year.

“We have no intention of losing our flagship series,” he said, adding that the network remains in active discussions with the program’s stars and producers to continue.

Fox is already investigating the logistics of moving production of the show from Vancouver to Los Angeles, which series star David Duchovny laid down as a condition for returning next fall. Roth acknowledged it’s possible the show could go on without Duchovny and Gillian Anderson--who play FBI agents Mulder and Scully--but stressed that he didn’t expect such contingencies to become necessary.

Perhaps the most significant question facing Fox for next season is whether to break up the other successful components of its Sunday night lineup, the animated comedies “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill.”

With “Seinfeld” gone, there’s been speculation Fox might shift “King of the Hill” to a different night--possibly Thursdays--in order to challenge NBC on another beachhead.

Fox is giving “serious consideration” to moving the show, whose producers include “Beavis and Butt-head” creator Mike Judge, but first wants to evaluate the immediate and long-term implications of what Roth called “the post-’Seinfeld’ world.”

“Any time the No. 1 comedy goes off the air, it’s obviously going to have an enormous impact,” he said.

Fox has ordered a series for next season produced in part by and featuring the voice of Eddie Murphy, “The PJs,” showcasing the Claymation technology employed in bringing the California Raisins to life--a likely candidate to be paired with one of the existing animated shows. Because of the long production time that process entails, however, the program won’t be ready until next January.

In terms of more imminent challenges, Fox will rely on its regular prime-time schedule to withstand the Winter Olympics, which CBS will televise during the February ratings sweeps. The network will offer a special lineup of “X-Files” episodes, including a special previewing the upcoming feature film based on the series, episodes written by novelist Stephen King and science-fiction writer William Gibson on Feb. 8 and 15, respectively, and a two-part story line to close out the month.